Three Kingdoms

  Chapter 1153 Despair and Hope

Soak in clear water three times, bathe in blood water three times, and boil in alkaline water three times. If this can be regarded as a thorough cleansing of the sins of the whole body, it will not suffer in the world. I am afraid that the people in Guanzhong are willing to donate Out of flesh and blood, in exchange for a moment of peace.

  The sky gradually brightened, driving away the mist that originally shrouded the battlefield. Losing the modification and cover of the mist is like losing the filter, and what is exposed will always be the most real ugliness.

   Rows of soldiers preparing to attack the city have already lined up, and at the front are those crumbling refugees, driven by knives and guns, moving forward and moving like walking dead.

  Behind these refugees, there is a battle formation assembled by the Han and Qiang people, waiting quietly in accordance with the order of battle that was negotiated last night.

Naturally, it is impossible to go straight to the city wall on horseback when attacking the city. Therefore, the horses of the Qiang people who dismounted and fought on foot were gathered together, led by special personnel, and went to the rear to graze. the fields.

   Ma Chao was silent for a while, then he waved his hand violently, and the drums on a dozen sides behind him began beating earth-shatteringly. Dozens of Qiang bullhorn players also blew their horns with all their strength. Almost at the same time, a huge shout broke out in the army formation. The city wall!

  At the beginning, it was different. The ragged refugees pushed or pulled with difficulty, dragging forward the siege equipment that was rushed out last night.

   These siege equipment did not exist yesterday. Yesterday there were only some ladders at most, and there were not many rushing carts, but today there are not only ladders and rushing carts, but even wooden archery towers. A team of Qiang archers followed behind with bows, waiting to advance to the After a suitable distance, kill and suppress the city head.

  Yesterday, most of these refugees attacked the city like walking dead, but now, the main force has basically been replaced by Qiang people and Han people.

Now under the city wall, it has been trampled by too many people, and it has also absorbed the blood of most people. It has become a bit like the color and muddy bean paste, but the bean paste is made of beans, and here it is made of beans. It is human flesh and blood.

  The Qiang people of the Yak Qiang lined up behind the refugees, and slowly followed.

On the small **** to the west, Ma Chao was sitting under the flag, and the rising sun in the east just shone on the "Fubo Mashi" flag, which added a bit of color, hunting in the sky. drift…

Zhong Shao on the city wall has been pale since last night, suffering bitterly. He saw Ma Chao gathering tens of thousands of troops, saw countless refugees wailing and dying under the city wall, and saw countless torches at night. Lingering around the city, watching Ma Chao's posture after dawn, the little anger in my heart finally became colder and colder, almost desperate. It is not because of his resolute courage that he is still guarding the top of the city until now, but because Zhong Shao knows that once he retreats, the defenders on the top of the city may quickly lose their strength to hold weapons.

   Another point is that Zhong Shao is also from Guanzhong.

  Guanzhong man, even if he died on the top of the city, it is better than dying on the head of the bed at home!

   During the whole night, Zhong Shao and his son Zhong Jie also had nothing to say, the two of them sat and lay down, talking silently. It's all about this, whether it's a hero, a hero, or a bear, besides dying, where are there so many endless gossips to recall and talk about?

   No matter, no matter!

   It's just a death!

When the sky was bright, Ma Chao beat the drums, and when the siege troops assembled by the brigade began to move forward slowly, on the city wall, those exhausted soldiers barely stood up while leaning on the wall. It's lifeless, without much fighting spirit...

   Zhong Shao and Zhong Jie, after all, are not from the military. It is not bad to be able to command the soldiers until now and still not collapse. It can be maintained until now, one depends on visiting the front line in person, and the other depends on these family members and private soldiers cultivated by the family for many years, and the exhaustion of this point of blood is tantamount to the exhaustion of the family's heritage.

   Zhong Shao Qiang propped up his body, and didn't care about the rain of arrows that might be thrown up at any time. He stretched out his head and looked at the crowd of people coming like a tide, and suddenly laughed: "It turns out that the hero is at the end of the road, it's like this!"

   Just when Zhong Shao thought that the city was about to fall, suddenly there was a long horn sound in the distance. Although the sound was not loud, it was like a sharp knife.

   This horn sounds, in the east!

  Zhong Shao was so shocked that he almost couldn't even stand still, and suddenly turned his head to look east.

   Zhong Jie hurriedly stepped forward to support him, then suddenly pointed his hand to the east, and there was a bit of choking in his words: "Father...father...here...here..."

   Zhong Shao stared blankly, the corners of his mouth trembled a few times, but he couldn't say a word.

  In the east where the sun was rising, in the place where the sun was shining, a three-color flag was raised high, as if emitting dazzling brilliance, it hurt people's eyes!

  The battle flag of the general who conquered the west of Han Dynasty!

  More and more soldiers and horses appeared in the brilliance. These soldiers and horses with their backs facing the sun seemed to be shrouded in a whole circle of brilliance.

   "Damn! Damn scout! Why didn't anyone find out..."

  The soil **** where Ma Chao was located suddenly caused a commotion, and many soldiers who were struggling to beat the drums couldn't help slowing down their movements, and then the drum beats were sparse and completely lost their rhythm...

  Thousands of eyes on the city and below the city turned to the east almost at the same time, and then involuntarily took a breath of cool air and let out a cry of exclamation.

  One person's voice is small, but the sound of thousands of people almost at the same time resounded in Ma Chao's army formation, and it was like a huge stone thrown into a deep pool, causing waves all over the sky!

   In an instant, all the expressions returned to Zhong Shao's face and body.

  Zhong Shaomeng turned his head and shouted at the soldiers above the city: "Reinforcements are coming! Reinforcements are coming! We are all saved! We are saved!"

He yelled, and it was as if all the colors returned to the top of the city with the sun's rays rising from the east, and the movements of the soldiers around him became alive, even though they were also covered in mud and blood. But it is obvious that the spirit is different.

   Before Ma Chao’s order arrived, the leader of the Yak Qiang who stood at the front was excited, drew his sword, rushed forward a few steps, and beheaded a refugee who was standing blankly and looking east!

The head was flying in the air, and there seemed to be not much blood in the refugee's body. At the same time as the headless body was lying on its side, the headman of the Yak Qiang pointed his blood-stained sword at the top of the wall and shouted loudly: " Siege! Siege! Quick! Quick! Take down the city!"

  The leader of the Yak Niu Qiang knew that after days and nights of consumption, there was only the last bit of strength left on the city wall, and as long as he worked harder, he could knock it down in one go!

  Whether those coming from the east are reinforcements or whose soldiers and horses, at this moment, the leader of the Yak Qiang doesn’t care. What he cares about is whether he can bring his belongings back after losing the lives of his people in vain!

   Taking a step back, if reinforcements really came, Ma Chao would naturally defend them!

   To choose a menacing reinforcement as an opponent, or choose a dying defender as an opponent, isn't this the easiest multiple-choice question?

   Ma Chao, who was standing on the mound, had to think more, and his face turned blue and white.

   Obviously saw the Qiang scouts coming and going, but there was no news. Among them, is it...

  The few Qiang heads beside Ma Chao also had livid faces and looked wrong. It's just that their minds are not on the question of whose scout is dereliction of duty or not, but on the reinforcement in front of them! Following Ma Chao to attack Chang'an is to take advantage of the advantages, not to head-to-head with the Han soldiers here, and the General Zhengxi in front of him is not a character to be trifled with!

  Furthermore, these Qiang-headed people already had more thoughts in their hearts. Now that the situation has changed suddenly, should they risk their lives and stand by Ma Chao's side, or should they turn around and leave when they see something is wrong? For a moment, the eyes of these Qiang-headed people flickered, and they were secretly probing and asking each other...

  These appearances naturally fell into Ma Chao's eyes. Ma Chao's face became more and more livid, as if looking back at Ma Dai, he got up and screamed, and his guards immediately took his horse and spear.

Ma Chao got on his horse, held his gun in his hand, and shouted loudly: "What the hell! I want to see with my own eyes how much he weighs! All armies attack the city in order according to yesterday's arrangement. If there is no arrangement, hurry up." Follow me! Let me see how I took Zheng Xi's head!" After finishing speaking, he sat on the horse's back, pointed his gun across, and stared at the few Qiang headmen who were not in line yesterday.

   "Ah..." Several Qiang-headed men looked at each other, and responded with some helplessness, "Yes... obey the order... let the sons go get the horses and prepare..."

   Before the Qiang people finished speaking, they heard a sudden bang among the horses behind, like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, exploding among the horses!

   Then after a dozen breaths, there was another loud noise!

  Two huge clouds of smoke burst out among the horses, stretched their bodies wantonly like demons, and then spread to all directions.

  The Qiang horses that had been gathered in one place at the rear were suddenly frightened when they heard such a loud noise, and they screamed for a while, and instinctively ran away in all directions!

Warhorses, despite their size, are actually not much bigger than rabbits in timidity. Although they have been trained, if a rabbit accidentally pops out from under its stomach when it is trimming and grazing on weekdays, it will be frightened. They bounced around for a while, not to mention hearing such a huge sound wave suddenly.

Grinning his teeth, Gong Jun squatted in the bushes, stretched out half of his head, half opened his mouth, raised one eyebrow, and waited for a while, but there was no follow-up action. He couldn't help but sighed regretfully: " Damn, he's dumb..."

  With sulfur, how can black powder be forgotten?

Feiqian has already arranged special personnel to develop it long ago, but in the Han Dynasty, the purification of many raw materials including charcoal powder was a big problem, and nitration was not easy to handle, so from the perspective of the energy efficiency of the explosion , It is far incomparable with the gunpowder of later generations, blowing up city walls and digging mountains, forget it, it is useless if the amount is small, and if the amount is large, hehe, the defenders will laugh and wait for people to move slowly Under the city?

However, it would be good to dig a tunnel and bury it under the city root, but it will take a long time, and the power cannot be guaranteed, so before the power can be stabilized, the current black powder is only a semi-finished product That's all.

  However, this semi-finished product is not bad for making some thick smoke and noise. Although it has no direct lethality, it is most suitable for scaring these timid guys.

Ma Chao's military discipline was chaotic, and the Qiang people were managed by their respective leaders, and there were no so-called checks or passwords between them, so Gong Jun easily mixed in, and waited until the critical moment At the node, he stabbed Ma Chao fiercely in the back!

The war horse came running wildly, although it was frightened and ran around, but the instinct of the animal made it subconsciously bypass the bushes with thorns. Gong Jun found a gap, jumped out of the bushes, and jumped on the ground. A war horse hugged the horse's neck tightly. While leading the horse to run away from the battlefield, it shouted in the words of the Qiang people: "The Han people are coming! Run, run!"

  War horses are blind animals. Gong Jun ran away from the battlefield with the horse in his arms, and immediately drove the follow-up horses. Suddenly, many war horses subconsciously followed the horses in front of them, thumping and running out...

Seeing the situation in front of him, Ma Chao was so enraged that his eyes almost popped out. He pointed his spear at Gong Jun and the few people who were yelling and running away, and asked, "Whose are these?" people?!"

   Those who attack the city are naturally mainly fighting on foot, and the remaining horses need to be guarded separately.

   All the Qiang leaders subconsciously turned their heads to look at the Qingyi Qiang leader.

   As for Qingyi Qiang, it was his turn to take care of these idle horses today...

  The Qiang-headed man in Tsing Yi quickly waved his hand to deny it, and before he could say anything to deny it, he saw that Ma Chao had already come on horseback, and he shot him in the chest without saying a word!

  Ma Dai led his personal guards, and followed Ma Chao, separated the dozen or so guards of the Qingyi Qiang leader, surrounded them, and killed them all!

   Ma Chao's eyes were bloodshot, and he threw the body of the leader of the Qingyi Qiang in front of the Qiang people, and said in a deep voice: "Send someone to pass the order! Assemble the team and prepare for the battle!"

   Ma Chao also knew that the sudden loud noise might not have been made by the people in Qingyi Qiang, but in the current situation, where is there any time to ask slowly and investigate carefully?

   I ran and ran, and now I don't have time to catch up. Since everyone looked at Tsing Yi Qiang, it was assumed that Tsing Yi Qiang did it!

   Those war horses who were disturbed and ran away are just those Qiang war horses who arranged for the siege to continue today. Most of the war horses are still within the control range, and they can still fight!

   Still hope to win!

  Looking at the murderous Ma Chao, the rest of the Qiang headmen couldn't help but feel a little chilled, and looked at Ma Dai and other Ma family guards who surrounded him, even if they had thousands of thoughts, they could only suppress it for the time being...

   "Come here! Blow the horn, raise the flag, assemble, line up, and prepare for the battle!" Baima Qiang Riwoji blinked a few times, and then said in a deep voice. The rest of the Qiang people also ordered their personal guards basically in the same way.

  As soon as the horn sounded, the men and horses mobilized immediately. Under the command of Ma Chao and the Qiang headman, they began to turn to the east, set up their positions, and prepared to face the battle...

  (end of this chapter)